Isle of Anglesey SAC · 2005–2026

Newborough Warren Groundwater Research

M. Hollingham 97-well dipwell network Coastal sand dune aquifer dynamics

89 dipwells analysed
21 years 2005–2026
5 hydrogeological clusters
29 pipeline steps

Newborough Warren is one of Wales’s most significant coastal sand dune systems and a designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC). This site accompanies a hydrogeological study of the coastal sand dune aquifer on the Isle of Anglesey. A 29-step reproducible analytical pipeline — requiring only monthly dipwell readings and publicly available climate data — characterises groundwater dynamics across five behavioural clusters, quantifies the hydrological effects of Corsican pine plantation and clearfell interventions, and provides operational forecasting tools for conservation management. View site map →

The principal finding is that the plantation simultaneously acts as a hydrological sink — consuming water through interception and transpiration — and a microclimatic buffer — shielding the water table from atmospheric evaporative demand. Removing the canopy eliminates both functions; the net effect is baseline displacement downward rather than the water-table recovery that conventional forestry hydrology would predict.

Citation: Hollingham, M. (2026) Hydrogeological Dynamics, Behavioural Clustering and Management Intervention Analysis at Newborough Warren Coastal Sand Dune Aquifer, Wales.

Contact: loading… · ORCID: 0000-0003-0253-9301

Dipwell records © M. Hollingham. Meteorological inputs from RAF Valley. Conservation management support: Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

Documents

Research report

Full Manuscript

Main report with 35 figures, 11 tables, plus supplementary material.

Summaries

Academic & Public Summaries

Concise research summary for academics; plain-language overview for land managers and community stakeholders in English, Welsh and Polish.

Glossaries

Dune Hydrology Glossary

Technical terms used in the report and web tools. Available in English, Welsh and Polish.

Web tools documentation

User Manual & Technical Note

How to operate the Forecaster, Scenario Viewer and Scatter (User Manual); model equations, data bundles and rendering (Technical Note).

Models

All three tools are self-contained HTML files with embedded data and JavaScript — no server, no installation, fully offline-capable. See the User Manual for operating instructions and the Technical Note for model equations.

Scenario viewer

Hydrogeological Modelling Suite

Explore groundwater dynamics under climate and management scenarios for all five clusters. IDW-interpolated map surface, cluster bar charts, and per-well data tables with UKCP18, clearfell, broadleaf and thinning presets.

Open scenario viewer →
Flood forecaster

Groundwater Flood Forecasting Tool

Per-well flood-risk assessment driven by SSM Pflood threshold equations. Live Met Office rainfall integration, cluster-specific horizons, and interactive map.

Open flood forecaster →
Network scatter

Seasonal Extremes Scatter

Mean annual summer minima vs winter maxima across the well network, coloured by cluster, with Curreli et al. (2013) eco-hydrological threshold lines and per-well search.

Open scatter plot →

Pipeline

29 steps across eleven phases, coordinated by run_analysis.py. All file paths managed centrally through src/utils/paths.py. Python 3.10+ required (3.12 tested).

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/newbroman/Newborough_Hydrology.git
cd Newborough_Hydrology
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run
python run_analysis.py          # interactive menu
python run_analysis.py --full   # all 29 steps
python run_analysis.py --from 14 # resume from step 14
python run_analysis.py --viewer  # build scenario viewer only
GitHub repository → Browse outputs Pipeline reference
Note: KML support uses pure XML + pyproj + shapely (no Fiona KML driver required). Stream network skeletonisation (script 20) requires scikit-image. The outputs/ directory should be excluded from version control.